Over the Line tournament a perfect summer spectacle

Those are three key ingredients to a typical day of good times
during the summer in America's Finest City.

Complement those original three items with a positive attitude,
a ball and a bat, and you've got yourself a San Diego tradition:
Over-the-Line.

The Old Mission Beach Athletic Club will be at it again, hosting
the 53rd annual Over-the-Line World Championship Tournament, which
begins Saturday, July 15 at Fiesta Island. The event actually
consumes two consecutive weekends and concludes July 23.

OTL, a 3-on-3 version of softball native to the beach, is about
more than just the sport. There is a peculiar grandeur that goes
along with the tournament, the atmosphere that makes OTL the
extravaganza it is: the free-flowing booze, the ridiculous looking
uniforms that some would rather refer to as costumes, the
outrageous team names inspired by current pop culture and politics
-- among other things -- that induce huge laughs from the crowd
when they are announced over the PA system. And of course, what
would OTL be without a bikini-clad Miss Emerson, OMBAC's queen of
the beach?

Is OTL more of a sporting event or a beach party?

"It's a good mixture of both," OMBAC Vice President Sonny
Petersen said. "It's a great beach sport that adds to the beach way
of life. It's just happy, and everyone is having a good time. A lot
of people are just relaxed and enjoying the games. It's a pretty
laid-back atmosphere but highly competitive also."

In years past, the OTL tournament was an out-of-control
experience, sometimes a hotbed for trouble. That's because lewd
acts and drug use were common when the tournament was at the peak
of its craziness decades ago. The times have changed, however, and
nowadays OTL conforms.

"We've pretty much changed the image quite a bit from how it
used to be," Petersen said. "There aren't all the risque things
that used to go on. We've got a lot better handle on the crowd now
to keep things like that from going on. We've cleaned it up,
because it's not the right thing at this day and time."

Despite an atmospheric overhaul, the tournament continues to
thrive. This year is no different, as an estimated 1,200 teams
(five men's divisions and four women's divisions divided by age)
will compete in nearly 2,400 games during the four-day spectacle.
Anyone and everyone from ages 21 to 85 plays.

Petersen expects upward of 50,000 people to converge onto Fiesta
Island during the two weekends.

It certainly takes a lot of work for OMBAC to put the OTL
tournament together, but despite the laborious efforts, the World
Championships is what OMBAC members live for. And they can hardly
wait for it to start.

"We start getting geared up for it in August," Petersen said.
"As soon as we're done with it, we start gearing up for the next
year."No matter how much work it is, we all look forward to putting
on the tournament and having people from all over the world come in
to play in it."